392. A Father and Daughter in the Pharmacy Shop

Together with Volk and Alo, I went to the former pharmacist’s house.
While he was healing Millia with〖Rest〗, I checked his status to find out that his name is Mody.
〖Rest〗doesn’t really remove the poisoned status, but it does serve to buy some time.

His house was actually pretty close. He apparently came to check what the commotion was all about.
He wasn’t kidding when he said he used to run a pharmacy shop since his house is loaded with shelves filled with medicine bottles, and there’s even a counter.
In the back of the house, a brown-haired girl is seen sitting on a chair, spacing out.
She looks sleepy.

“Pardon the late introduction. My name is Mody, and that girl you see sitting at the back is my daughter, Lieuon…… Lieuon dear, we have guests”

When Mody called out to her daughter, she gave a simple nod without looking at us.
She really looks spaced out.
I tried bowing to greet them, but she didn’t respond.

“Is that young lady a friend of yours?”

While closing the door that leads to his daughter’s room, Mody asks what my relationship with Millia is.

“Eh? Uh…… No, I just saw that she was in trouble and jumped in to help her”

I can feel Alo’s gaze being directed at me, but I ignore it.
The last time Millia saw me was when I was a Plague Dragon.
I doubt she could recognize me when she sees me in my dragon form, let alone in my current human form.
Besides, I killed Gregory and threatened to attack Millia before flying away. (The threaten part was just pretend though)
If she finds out who I am, I’ll have no choice but to run away.

“I, see…… that’s very brave of you. But, it’s better if you don’t get involved with the three knights anymore. Bad rumors…… have spread about them these past few weeks. You don’t look like you’re from around here. If you’ve been invited to the royal palace, I recommend that you do not go”

I only came here since he accepted to help Millia…… but instead, I got more info about the three head knights.
Then, Mody leads us to a room and prepares a bed for Millia.
He then looks at me.

“Please lay her on the bed”

Volk attempted to carry the bed but I stopped him and placed Millia down gently.
I’m sure that with Volk’s muscle strength, he can carry three beds with one hand.
When I put Millia down, our faces got close to each for a short moment and I was instantly reminded of that time I let Millia ride me when we chased after the Little Rock Dragon.
Noticing that I froze in my tracks, I quickly step away.

…… It’s best to leave as soon as possible before Millia wakes up and sees me.

Mody stabs Millia’s arm with a syringe, takes a small portion of her blood and puts it in a small cup.
Then, he mixes it with a blue liquid, and then the blue liquid turns to red.
Mody utters “So it’s the same poison” before quickly walking over to a shelf and grabbing a stone wrapped in roots.

“…… C-Can you cure her?”

“No problem. It’s potent, but at least it doesn’t contain other annoying effects like antidote prevention or curses. It’ll take time, but I assure that she will be treated. However, how does one get poisoned in the middle of the day while inside the city……? Not even the〖Poison〗magic is this easily concealed”

…… I’m certain it’s because of that Poison Ruler’s〖Poison Touch〗skill, but they’ll probably start asking me questions on how do I know that, so I stay silent.

Mody scrapes the stone on a mortar, collects the powder, and measures it on a scale.
Then, he adds it to the red poison on the cup and begins mixing it.
The color gradually turns from red to blue.
Mody nods in satisfaction and puts another dosage of powder on a piece of paper.

I’m not really doubting his skills, but I’ll check just in case.

【〖Detoxifying Antidote: Value Ｄ＋〗】
【A drug that eliminates the〖Poison〗status. It also restores a small amount of HP.】
【Since it is specially made, it is very effective on poisons it is based from.】
【An item that requires first-class professional work.】

Ohh, that’s quite something.
With this, Millia can finally be saved.
I let out a sigh of relief.

Mody carries the medicine to Millia’s room and applies it on her immediately.
After some time, Millia’s paleness slowly started to subside.
I check her status and her poisoned status is now (small).

After seeing Millia’s condition get better, I was able to settle down, but then I noticed Mody looking out the window and checking the outside before turning to me.

“My daughter, Lieuon, is actually the poster girl for this shop…… she was friends with an adventurer and they got along so well”

Lieuon is…… that spaced out girl earlier, right?
I thought she had a strange atmosphere around her, but apparently, there seems to be a reason for that.

“But then…… that adventurer stopped coming after he received an invitation to attend Princess Chris’s party…… I assumed he decided to leave the city after attending the party. My daughter said he promised he’d come back here and tell her all about the wonders in the palace…… at that time, I just shrugged it off as young love, but I should’ve paid attention to how my daughter felt when her friend suddenly disappeared”

An invitation to Princess Chris’s party, huh.
I’m already informed that many strong adventurers and fighters are invited to the palace to be turned into experience points.
But, if the mastermind of all this is really that slime I fought in Noah’s forest back then, then he’d have stolen a huge pile of skills by now…… but, I’m certain I gained exp points from that battle.
He should be dead.

…… That adventurer Mody mentioned was probably converted into experience points already.

“Lieuon went to the royal palace, demanding to see the princess, and she was joined by several others who also had a similar experience, but they were all arrested by the palace guards…… Everyone who voiced their dissatisfaction against the royal family were apprehended…… A day later, they were released by the church, and from that day on, Lieuon was suddenly unable to speak, even rarely responding to my words. It’s been…… about a week since that event”

“Eh……”

“It was Father Roguehale who offered to free them, so I went to ask him what happened to my daughter, until I suddenly fell unconscious…… I convinced myself that I just collapsed from shock…… That is, until another incident happened…… I heard rumors of one of the three head knights, Thermal, causing young women to fall unconscious after touching them…… I can’t help but wonder if the three knights are even human…… I just, wanted someone to hear my thoughts on them……”

Mody spoke with clear sadness in his voice.

Still, a special status condition that renders people in a blank state……?
Could Millia also have……?! No, I already checked her status, she’s fine.
But then…… what if?!

“Excuse me for a moment!”

Without thinking, I run towards the door Mody closed earlier and abruptly open it.

“Ah, wait…… please don’t disturb my daughter in her room……!”

Within the room, a brown-haired girl with a doll-like expression is seen sitting on a chair.
She gives me a non-surprised glance as I enter her room despite my forceful entry.
I immediately check her status.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
〖Lieuon Lexia〗
Species: Earth Huma
Status: Normal
Lv: 4/45
HP: 14/14
MP: 14/14
Attack: 8
Defense: 8 + 1
Magic: 14
Speed: 15

Equipment:
Body:〖Common One-piece: F-〗

Special Skills:

Resistances:

Regular Skills:

Tiles:
〖Former Pharmacist: Lv—〗〖Former Poster Girl: Lv—〗
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

None.
She doesn’t have anything. I’ve seen normal humans who have empty resistance skills and regular skills before.
But, for a human to not even have a single language skill is just……

A chill runs down my spine. My mind becomes filled with nothing but anger and regret.
They’ll pay for this.

“Is there a problem……?”

Mody asks in confusion.
Lieuon looks at me and tilts her head.
That gesture was as if she was asking me “Why are you crying?”.

This is practically the same as what that slime did to Dawes.
I couldn’t see it since it was gibberish, but he was definitely rigged with an extra abnormal status……
They’re aiming to steal the skills of strong adventurers and silence anyone who voices a complaint.
There’s no point in rejecting that possibility now, is there?
That slime…… is still alive! It would be better if this is all just assumptions on my part. But, it’s definitely not an impossibility now.

That individual must not be left wandering in this world.
That thing is more arrogant than Tallmann and more sinister than the Hero.